Silence on the other line and then Bodey sighed. “Q’s dead.”
“I know sir. It’s probably my fault. I got him to help me and this maniac killed him for it. I’m sorry.”
“My brother, Q’s father, was into all kinds of bad shit,” Bodey said. “I doubt you had anything to do with it. I tried to get Q away from him, but he wouldn’t leave his family. It’s not your fault.”
“You don’t know the whole story,” Luke said.
“Enlighten me.”
Luke spent the next ten minutes explaining everything to him and when he was done Bodey sat quietly for a moment.
“Are you still there?” Luke asked.
“Just in awe my brother. Just in awe. That kid was always willing to help anyone. I told him to be careful who he messed with, but he wouldn’t listen. I can tell you have a lot of guilt over this, but Q was able to make decisions on his own. He made a bad one.”
“He saved a kid’s life that night,” Luke said. “Because of him, we were able to scare Worthington off.”
“I appreciate you telling me all this, Luke, but I don’t think that’s the whole reason your calling. Am I right?”
“Yes sir. I need your help.”
“Is it going to get me killed?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Not too convincing are you. What do you need and I’ll decide if it’s worth the risk.”
Luke told him.
“So your woman, Ellie is it…?”
“Yes.”
“Ellie has been kidnapped by this same guy who killed my brother and his family and you want me to help you find him? Do I have this right?”
“Yes.”
“You’re psycho, dude,” and he chuckled. “Why aren’t the police handling this?”
“Because they suck.”
“Yes-I imagine they do in your eyes. What does this Ellie mean to you?”
“Everything.”
“That epic, huh? You do know you could get yourself killed over this? I don’t think I can live with that.”
“He’s after me anyway. If you want to look at it as self preservation, you can add that to the fact I’d rather be dead than live without Ellie.”
“You’re kind of young to be this into one girl.”
“You don’t know her.”
“You’re right,” Bodey said. “I don’t. You know, you sound a little older than your real age.”
“I’ve had to grow up a lot in the past few days.”
“True that,” Bodey said. “Double true. Give me your e-mail and I’ll walk you through it.”
Luke sighed. “Thank you, Mr. Jenson. You don’t know what this means.”
“It’s Bodey, since we’re so intimate now, and I think I know all too well what this means. Don’t get yourself killed kid.”
“I’ve got help.”
“I think you’re going to need it. E-mail?”
Luke gave it to him and a few minutes later he had the program installed on his computer. Bodey walked him through how to work it. It took a few minutes because it was not very user friendly, but he eventually got the hang of it.
“How are you going to get him to call you?” Bodey asked.
“I’ll send him a message on Facebook he can’t ignore. He has a huge ego and I’m going to bruise it. He’ll respond.”
“Got it. If you can’t get it to work right, call me back. I give tech support.”
Luke actually laughed. “Thank you, sir-uh-Bodey. You’re awesome!”
“Luke?”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful.”
“I will.” He hung up.
Chapter 50
Ellie woke to find her father standing over her.
“Get up,” he said. “Time to move.”
She rose slowly, shakily. She didn’t know how much time had passed since the video incident and she hadn’t had anything else to eat. She still stunk of urine despite washing herself off and dunking her clothes in the soapy water. She had put them back on wet and lay down on the concrete shivering. She hadn’t wanted him to see her naked. Even if he was her father.
She eventually fell asleep and now he was back.
“Where are we going?”
“Someplace new.”
“I thought you wanted Jaxon to find me,” she said.
“I don’t want to make it easy for him,” and he grinned. “He has to prove he’s worthy.”
“Worthy of what?”
Her father didn’t answer. He told her to turn around and he bound her wrists behind her and then he marched her up the stairs. They emerged into a dingy room with a cot, a chair, a small table, and a hot plate, but nothing else. It had one window and Ellie could see it was dark outside. She felt confused because in her mind she thought it was morning. Her internal clock was all off balance and she had no idea what time it was or even what day.
He pushed her down a hallway and out a door to what looked like a back yard. It was overgrown with weeds as high as her shoulder. Further back, in the dim moonlight, she could see what she thought looked like a small outhouse nestled against a tree. The light was so dim it was hard to tell. A black or brown car was parked by it and he nudged her along toward it.
“No noise, now,” he whispered.
He went to the passenger side and pushed her in. Shutting the door he came around, sat in the driver’s seat, and reached around behind him grabbing a small bottle and a rag. She knew what was going to happen.
“Please,” she said. “I’ll be good. You don’t have to knock me out.”
“Yes I do,” he said, soaking the rag with the fluid. A strong astringent odor filled the car and he rolled down the window. “Just hold still and let it do its work. You’ll be fine in no time.”
She started to cry, but didn’t fight him. The rag was pressed to her face and she held her breath.
“You’ll have to breathe eventually,” he said. “Might as well do it now.”
She took a breath and then another and soon the world started spinning. His grinning face, lit only by the moonlight, was what followed her into the blackness. She dreamed for what seemed an eternity, her father’s angry voice shouting a single word over and over again: ‘Read!’ No matter what she tried, she could not find where the voice was coming from. His low, deep, booming cry seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. In the dream, she was free to move around and she ran from the command, but she could never get away. It followed her into the darkness, where she finally slept deeply and awakened, stiff and cold on a concrete floor, a thin wool blanket covering her legs.
She sat up shakily and looked around. She was in a basement again, but someplace new. Another chair was sitting in the middle of the room, pushed up close to a folding card table. A Styrofoam cooler sat against one wall next to a door which stood partially open. It was dark beyond the opening and she could not see into it. If she had to guess, she was pretty sure it was another ‘bathroom.’
Turning to her left, a wall of cubbies stood stark and empty against a wall that had a window high up near the roof. The glass was painted black but she could see light leaking around the sill. At least she could tell it was daylight. It was too high for her to reach even if she stood on the table. Maybe if she put the chair up on the table and stood on it she thought it might be within reach. She’d have to try when she wasn’t so weak.
Standing slowly, her legs shaking beneath her, she wobbled around the rest of the space finding nothing of interest or value. A set of creaky stairs led to a locked, solid feeling door that echoed when she rapped on it. No one came to answer. Holding the railing as she slowly descended back down, the room started to spin and she lost her footing. Falling the last couple of steps, she twisted her ankle and cried out in pain as she landed hard on the concrete floor. She sat there holding it and crying, the despair she felt magnified by her weakened and now injured body. Nobody was going to find her here and no one was coming to save her.
After a few minutes she got herself under control and tried to stand. She limped and hopped over to the Styrofoam cooler and looked inside. There were a few bottles of water, some snacks, and a sandwich nestled in some ice. She grabbed a handful of the cubes and held them to her swelling ankle. Hopefully she’d be able to keep it from swelling too much and stiffening up.